ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on place-based approaches and, in particular, the specification lay out by Fabrizio Barca, prepared at the request of Danuta Hubner, then European Commissioner for Regional Policy, which has subsequently influenced the post-2013 reform of Cohesion Policy. It contributes to the existing knowledge-base relating to territorial dimension of European policy translation and implementation by identifying some entrenched challenges that imbue place-based methods of local and regional development. The chapter analyses the theoretical principles of place-based thinking according to Barca's tripartite formulation intended to realise a 'territorialised social agenda'. It reviews some of the emerging challenges at local, regional and national scales when varieties of place-based development policy are operationalised and implemented. The longer-term temporal horizon of place-based strategies is in recognition of enduring and systemic development challenges or traps. It can also be read as a critique of more traditional 'quick fix' development interventions.
